A celebration of creativity and community at MITArtfinity is a new festival of the arts at MIT featuring 80 free performing and visual arts events, celebrating creativity and community at the Institute. Artfinity launches with the opening of the new Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building on February 15, 2025, continues with a concentration of events February 28-March 16, and culminates with the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts public lecture by 2025 recipient artist and designer Es Devlin on May 1, 2025, and a concert by Grammy-winning rapper and Visiting Professor Lupe Fiasco on May 2, 2025. Artfinity embodies MIT’s commitment to creativity, community, and the intersection of art, science and technology. We invite you to join us in this celebration, explore the diverse events, and experience the innovative spirit that defines the arts at MIT.About the Artists Artfinity features the innovative work of MIT faculty, students, staff, and alumni, alongside guest artists from the Greater Boston area and beyond.About the Activities & Events All 80 events are open to the public, including dozens of concerts and performances plus an array of visual arts such as projections, films, installations, exhibitions, and augmented reality experiences, as well as lectures and workshops for attendees to participate in. With a wide range of visual and performing arts events open to all, Artfinity embodies MIT’s commitment to the arts and the intersection of art, science, and technology.About the Presenters Artfinity is an institute-sponsored event organized by the Office of the Arts at MIT with faculty leads Institute Professor of Music Marcus Thompson and Professor of Art, Culture and Technology Azra Akšamija. Departments, labs, centers, and student groups across MIT are presenting partners.Visit arts.mit.edu for more information about the arts at MIT.

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All kids from newborn age to 3.5 years old are welcome! You can bring siblings as well.It's a chance for kids to have fun while parents can chat, share parenting tips, and socialize.Please register if you plan to attend the group. Contact Maria at mwiegandl@udd.cl if you have any questions.This group is sponsored by the Executive Committees of Westgate and the Graduate Tower at Site 4, and MIT Spouses & Partners Connect, a dedicated network for the significant others of MIT students, postdocs, staff and faculty who have relocated to the Boston area.

February 26, 2025 - July 17, 2025Hidden within MIT’s Distinctive Collections, many architectural elements from the earliest days of the Institute’s architecture program still survive as part of the Rotch Art Collection. Among the artworks that conservators salvaged was a set of striking windows of gypsum and stained-glass, dating to the late 18th- to 19th c. Ottoman Empire. This exhibition illuminates the life of these historic windows, tracing their refracted histories from Egypt to MIT, their ongoing conservation, and the cutting-edge research they still prompt.The Maihaugen Gallery (14N-130) is open Monday through Thursday, 10am - 4pm, excluding Institute holidays.

What makes a research statement in the humanities and social sciences successful? Hear from SHASS faculty about their experiences writing research statements and/or evaluating them as members of a search committee. Get an expert perspective on mistakes to avoid, where to put your focus, and what you can leave out.This CAPD event is open to MIT PhDs and postdocs.

Join us for an MIT Museum-guided tour. We will visit three exhibitions, AI: Mind the Gap, Monsters of the Deep, and Essential MIT, which showcase the Libraries' collections on display. We will also visit one exhibition, MIT Collects: Technology and the Dream, where Libraries' staff collaborated to conserve and display an MIT artifact, Robert Robertson Taylor's Diploma. This event is part of our ALA Preservation Week Celebration at MIT. The phrase "Preserve Knowledge" found in the Institute and Libraries' missions encapsulates the work of the MIT Libraries' Department of Distinctive Collections (DDC). The DDC preserves the Institute's physical and unique collections. We invite you to join us for this year's ALA Preservation Week Celebration at MIT, where we will highlight the collaborative and innovative methods we use to preserve and amplify the Institute's essential core collections. We also focus on how our staff safeguards the global human transmission of historical technologies related to bookmaking, printmaking, and historical writing traditions. The DDC is home to the Aga Khan Documentation Center, the Institute Archives, the Maihaugen Gallery, Public Services, Rare Books, Records Management, the Visual Collection, and the Wunsch Conservation Lab.

MIT Free English Class is for international students, sholars, spouses. Twenty seven years ago we created a community to welcome the nations to MIT and assist with language and friendship. Join our Tuesday/Thursday conversation classes around tables inside W11-190.

Ten minutes for your mind@2:50 every day at 2:50 pm in multiple time zones:Europa@2:50, EET, Athens, Helsinki (UTC+2) (7:50 am EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88298032734Atlantica@2:50, EST, New York, Toronto (UTC-4) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349851047Pacifica@2:50, PST, Los Angeles, Vancouver (UTC=7) (5:50 pm EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85743543699Almost everything works better again if you unplug it for a bit, including your mind. Stop by and unplug. Get the benefits of mindfulness without the fuss.@2:50 meets at the same time every single day for ten minutes of quiet together.No pre-requisite, no registration needed.Visit the website to view all @2:50 time zones each day.at250.org or at250.mit.edu

Date: Thursday, May 1 Time: 4:00pm Location: 46-3002, Singleton Auditorium (Third floor of MIT Building 46)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89238458002Talk Title: Results from a Genome-Wide Association Study of the Externalizing Spectrum in ~4 Million PeopleAbstract: The externalizing spectrum encompasses psychiatric disorders and health risk behaviors characterized by disinhibition (acting without regard to future negative consequences) and antagonism (acting without regard to other people’s rights and feelings). Externalizing disorders and behaviors are highly comorbid and have overlapping genetic etiologies. In this presentation, I will describe results from a multivariate genome-wide association study of ~4 million people with European-like and African-like genetic ancestry that leveraged genetic sharing among 7 externalizing behaviors. A general Externalizing factor (EXT) was highly genetically correlated with antisocial behavior, Opioid Use Disorder, and suicide attempt. In a multi-ancestry meta-analysis, we identified >1,000 genome-wide significant loci. Bioannotation analyses implicate early prenatal neurodevelopment, particularly in GABAergic and dopaminergic systems. Across multiple independent cohorts, a polygenic index (PGI) for Externalizing significantly predicted alcohol and illicit drug use, aggression, rule-breaking, school suspension and expulsion, job termination, and criminal arrest and incarceration, as well as myriad diseases affecting every bodily system, including pregnancy complications, viral infections, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and pain. Analyses of family data indicate that PGI associations largely capture direct genetic effects. Overall, our study provides novel insights into the development of a constellation of stigmatized psychiatric disorders that impose a profound burden on human health and well-being.Bio: Kathryn Paige Harden, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she directs the Developmental Behavior Genetics lab, co-directs the Texas Twin Project, and is the Director of Clinical Training for the Clinical Psychology graduate program. She is a graduate of Furman University and the University of Virginia. Her research uses genetic and epigenetic research methods to understand why people’s lives turn out differently. She is particularly interested in adolescence, a period of rapid and formative change that helps shape health and well-being for the rest of the life course. In addition to research, Paige teaches “Introduction to Psychology” as a synchronous massive online class to thousands of UT undergraduate students every year. Her first book, The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality (Princeton), was named one of the “Best books of 2021” by The Economist and has been translated into 10 languages. She is currently working on a new book, Original Sin, to be published by Random House. Read her profile in The New Yorker here.

The Department of Mathematics welcomes École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne professor Maryna Viazovska to our annual Simons Lecture Series.She will give three lectures April 29-May 1The Sphere Packing Problem Lecture 1: General overview. Lecture 2: Random sphere packings with symmetries Lecture 3: Ideal lattice packings and subconvexity bounds IIEach day, a reception will be held at 4pm in Room 2-290, followed by the 4:30pm lecture in Room 2-190.This annual lecture series features presentations by top mathematicians. Many thanks to the late Jim Simons and his wife, Marilyn Simons, for their continued financial support of these lectures.

Our next Design Redefined explores how empathy-driven AI can positively impact society. Through a panel discussion and hands-on activities, participants will discover how designing AI with compassion can support mental well-being, enhance social connections, and address real-world challenges. By focusing on the human side of technology, this event aims to show how AI solutions, designed with empathy at their core, can empower communities and transform lives.Free with museum admission. Free for teens.

Organic Chemistry Seminar Series featuring Prof. Andrew G. Myers (Harvard University)Talk Title: TBAhttps://myers.faculty.chemistry.harvard.edu/home

A conversation between artist and designer Es Devlin and architect and curator Paola Antonelli about Devlin’s wide-ranging artistic practice.Free and open to the public, but registration is required due to space limitations.

Iyengar yoga is Hatha yoga as taught by BKS Iyengar and develops strength, coordination, and flexibility of the body and mind. Participants learn how to use their embodiment as an anchor - a way to find peace and inner strength during busy and difficult times.Every class is different with a unique sequence based on the theme of the class and the needs of the students. Using physical alignment as a starting point, Iyengar yoga encourages the spread of intelligence throughout the body, the growth of self awareness and asana as a form of meditation.As a Certified Iyengar Teacher (CIYT) who has studied with renown teachers Patricia Walden and Jarvis Chen for over 16 years, Ashley uses individual pose modifications, props, and hands-on adjustments to support participants of all body types, ages and abilities.Iyengar yoga is truly for everyone - stiff bodies welcome!Registration is required on our wellness class website. If you do not already have an account on this website, you'll need to create one. This is fee-based class and open to the entire MIT community.

Join the MIT Russian Connection for a Spring celebrationOpen to all graduate students of MIT. Sponsored by the GSC Funding Board.Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/xvuszuPkgH7pKzos8

THEATER at MITThe 2025 Spring Theater Arts Production (21T.100)ANTIGONICKadapted from Sophocles’ Antigone by ANNE CARSONdirection by BLYTHE DE OLIVEIRA FOSTERmentorship of design and production students by SARA BROWN“I AM BORN OF LOVE NOT HATRED” - ANTIGONEA wedding bouquet. A community in conflict. A family pulled apart by war. Witnesses, messengers, conversations in the dark, and many, many acts of love…Participate in this immersive staging of the spirited debates about love at the heart of Antigonick, a contemporary, and visual translation of Sophocles’ Antigone, by Anne Carson with illustrations by Bianca Stone. What are some of the practical, everyday ways that we live through loss? How do we respond when individual values, the natural world, and laws of the state collide? Crack an egg, bake a cake, and help us imagine what hope could look like here…In collaboration with: Verose Agbing, Fara Alade, Mustafa Al-Obaidi, Daina August, Katrina Chan, Yiding Chen, Shifty Celestin, Andrew Emmel, Fadi Farag, Emi Grady-Willis, Yunseo Jo, Maha Yawar Khan, Mingpei Li, Lisa Li-Liang, Juno Matthews, Ariel McGee, Alayo Oloko, Tea Picconatto, Alex Tran, Katherine Warner, Xinyu XuMay 1-38pm in W97+May 42pm in W97345 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA(FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)PRODUCTION TEAM:Direction: Blythe de Oliveira FosterMentorship of Design and Production Students: Sara BrownStage Management: Lily BarnesDirector of Production: Maggie MooreTechnical Direction: Joseph Lark-RileyAssistant Direction: Katrina Chan & Xinyu XuCo-Set Design: Sara Brown & Alayo OlokoCostume Design: Chloe ChapinAssistant Costume Design: Verose AgbingCostume Alterations: April McCoyChoreography: Alissa CardoneAssistant Choreography: Kate WarnerComposing and Sound Design: Christian FredericksonLighting Design: Kevin FultonAssociate Lighting Design: Alayo OlokoVideo Design: Klara BallayVideo Engineering: Emi Grady-WillisDramaturgy: Maria De SimoneProps: Jonathan FajorsActing Coaching: Shifty CelestinSenior Administrative Assistant, Theater Arts: Yi (Jennifer) TuDirector of Communications: Dan PecciHead, Music & Theater Arts: Jay Scheib